"The unveiling of a memorial dedicated to the “costliest chapter” in the history of The Black Watch regiment takes place next year.
Council officials from Perth and Kinross, Angus and Dundee will travel to Belgium to attend the dedication ceremony.
Created by Alan Herriot, the sculpture of the kilted Highlander will sit at Black Watch Corner, near Ypres, where the battalion suffered its greatest losses."_________________Ken

A proud Fife mother left her hospital bed to be at the opening of Fife’s new Garden for Heroes.

After Black Watch Corporal Tam Mason tragically lost his life during the conflict in Afghanistan, his grieving mum Linda Mason Buchanan and sister Kelly had the idea of creating such a place, an oasis of calm in the middle of bustling Dunfermline — a place of reflection where anyone could go and think of their own special hero.

With £100,000 funding from three Fife Council area committees — City of Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and south-west Fife — that family’s dream became reality on a bleak and frosty November afternoon.

Standing proudly beside the stone which bears the inscription “At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them”, Linda revealed that she had been determined not to miss the poignant opening ceremony in the shadow of Dunfermline Abbey.

“I was rushed into hospital with a serious infection and have been on IV antibiotics, but they knew how long I had been working on this, and how important this was to me, so I was allowed out for an hour,” she said.

Making the pilgrimage was another Fife mum, Jane Duffy, who had travelled from Tayport. Like Linda, she has suffered unimaginable loss as she lost her son, Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, who was also killed in Afghanistan. His faithful dog Theo died shortly after, some say of a broken heart.

After the ceremony Jane stepped quietly forward to leave a simple cross in memory of her fallen hero and his four-legged companion.

She said that, although it was in west Fife, the garden was for all those in Fife.

She told those taking part in the service: “This will be a place for fun and laughter, for anger and sadness, and for rest and restoration.”

It is not only for forces families, as Fife Provost Jim Leishman stressed it was truly a place for everyone who had lost a loved one and needed a place of quiet contemplation.

“Everyone has their own hero. My wife Mary was my hero and I sit and think about the good memories we had together.”

He also paid tribute to the late Mike Rumney, who was the City of Dunfermline committee chairman until his death last summer and a man who fought to bring the garden to fruition.

Thanking all those who had helped Linda, Mr Leishman said: “I know he is not here physically with us today, but I have to say I think he is with us in the sense he will be watching over these proceedings and saying ‘Good on you’.”

Fife Council leader Alex Rowley thanked Black Watch veterans and the British Legion for their support.

“Too many of our young people have lost their lives in recent conflicts,” he said.

“And we also have to remember we have young people from across Fife who are serving their country in far-off lands and putting their lives at risk every day while we go about out normal business.”

One hundred years after the outbreak of the First World War, the community of Falkland is getting set to commemorate those who lost their lives in this conflict and those following it.

It is hoped that if £24,000 can be raised a new war memorial will be erected in the village by October this year.

At the moment a list of the dead from both World Wars is situated inside the parish church and another list, only containing those who died in the First World War are included on a plaque in the olfdwar memorial institute.

Resident Betty Gilcharist, who has been at the forefront of researching the names and trying to raise the cash necessary for the memorial cairn, said she wants to make sure that all of the names are correct and none are missing.

Grangemouth air cadets have unveiled their long-planned Second World War memorial in honour of fallen airmen who died while training in the town.

Youngsters from the 1333 Squadron Air Training Corps campaigned for over five years to fund a full-size replica of a Mk.1 Supermarine Spitfire.

The memorial is a tribute to the 71 pilots who died while learning to fly the fighter plane at the Operational Training Unit at RAF Grangemouth.

Iain Mitchell, chairman of the Grangemouth Spitfire Memorial Trust, said: “The young men who trained at Grangemouth were among the bravest the world has ever seen, and it is a huge honour for us to be in a position to commemorate their sacrifice with this stunning memorial.

“The effort the cadets have put into this has been astonishing. This would not have been possible without them.”

The memorial itself is an exact replica of the Mk 1 X4859 flown by 23-year-old Polish trainee pilot Eugeniusz Lukomski, who died when his Spitfire crashed near the Avondale estate, Polmont, in November 1941.

That the Parliament congratulates Maddiston Community Council on the recent dedication of the village’s new war memorial; notes that the memorial is dedicated to those who died in the First and the Second World War and in subsequent conflicts; notes that Maddiston was previously one of the few villages in Falkirk district not to commemorate their fallen soldiers but considers that it now has a memorial to be proud of; acknowledges that the unveiling of the memorial, attended by the Minister for Transport and Veterans, was the climax of a joint effort by the community council, Maddiston and Rumford Local History Group, Falkirk Council and Cloybank Estate, and understands that the local community is now satisfied that the fallen service personnel of Maddiston are finally being commemorated with a war memorial in the village.

In the article there are mentions of several new memorials to Scottish units.

...The Paddle Memory Tour saw plaques unveiled in 17 towns and villages for the 51st Highlanders...The band also revealed that another memorial will be unveiled at Grandchamp la Chateau for a French freedom fighter who enlisted with the 5/7 Gordon Highlanders and was killed in action.

I've put this link here because it mentions a new memorial. On the BBC website today there is an article about commemorating the Battle of Loos at Dundee but it also mentions a new memorial to Lt Col Angus Douglas Hamilton at Melrose, as well as the new VC slab for Piper Laidlaw.